


Star Reporter

by orphan_account



Category: Newsies - All Media Types, Newsies!: the Musical - Fierstein/Menken
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Getting Together, Journalist!David, M/M, Police Officer!Jack
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-12
Updated: 2019-02-12
Packaged: 2019-10-26 18:16:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,761
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17751017
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: While David is watching Les, he loses him in the middle of the night, only to find him with an attractive police officer.Fun fact: the Duane Street Lodging House (that the newsboys slept at) was located where the present day NYPD HQ now stands, which is where I got the idea for this fic.





	1. The damn cat

Les was sleeping soundly in David’s room. David knew because he had tucked him in himself. He sat at his desk, earbuds in, pouring over his writing. His phone lit up, the alert drowning out his music. The name Katharine Plumber appeared on the screen. He groaned.

“Hello, boss?” David answered. He was then sucked into a conversation about when his article would be done. He glanced at the title of his empty page, the words Murder on the L Train staring back at him.

“It’ll be posted bright and early tomorrow morning,” He promised. Katharine clicked her tongue, but allowed him to get back to his work. He set down his phone with a sigh.

David wasn’t sure when he had drifted off, but before he knew it he woke up, back aching. It was still dark outside, the light just barely beginning to shine. He checked his phone to see that it was 2am. Rubbing his eyes, he wondered why he woke up. He felt that something was off, so he went to check in on Les. When he peeked his head in the room, Les’s bed was empty. His heart sank. He crossed the room to look out the window, which was open just barely a centimeter.

“Les?” He called out. When there was no response, he walked into the kitchen, searching the rest of his apartment for some sign of his little brother. He felt fear and anxiety grip him. Not knowing what to do, he grabbed his shoes and ran out of the building. He knew that the New York streets were dangerous enough, but at night they were practically terrifying. It was almost 3:30 when he really started to panic. He couldn’t find Les and god only knew if he could finish his article before the deadline. He couldn’t stand the thought of losing his job, much less his brother. His phone rang and he nearly dropped it while getting it out of his pocket. The screen displayed an unknown number.

“Hello?” He asked.

A mans voice answered. “Hey, is this David Jacobs?”

“Yes, who is this?”

“Jack Kelly. I think I got your little brother here—Les?”

Tension eased from David’s shoulders. “Is he all right? Where is he?”

“Woah, it’s fine he’s not hurt or anything. Come down to the police station.”

“The police...? Okay, I’ll be there.”

David Jacobs was no athlete in his school days, and he certainly wouldn’t be running any marathons, but he sprinted through the city until he finally saw the building. Eventually, he saw Les standing with some man, presumably Jack Kelly, illuminated by the street light.

“Les!” David exclaimed. The pair turned to look at him. “What happened? I was worried sick!”

Les looked up at him with wide eyes. “Sorry, Davey!” Les moves forward and hugged David’s torso. David put a hand on the top of Les’s head, which was buried in his shirt. David finally looked up at Jack, noticing the police uniform the other man wore.

David was relieved he found Les, but clueless as to what happened. “Is he in trouble?” He asked the officer.

“No, he was just looking for his cat.” Jack explained.

“The cat got out?” David pulled back and asked Les. He nodded, looking upset.

“She crawled out the window! I went to look for her, but I got lost and then Jack found me. He’s really cool! You know he once rode the subway with the president?” David raised an eyebrow at Jack, who looked a little embarrassed. He smiled lightly.

“Well, Les we have to get home, I have work. Say thank you to the nice officer!” They went to walk away, but Jack stopped them.

“Here, it’s late, I’ll walk you guys so there’s no trouble,” he offered with a smile.

“Are you sure? Don’t you have work to do?” David asked.

Jack shook his head. “My shift ended at 3. Lead the way.” David would’ve insisted they were fine, if not for Les’s face lighting up with excitement. The three of them walked down the street, Les leading the way.

“Thanks, you didn’t have to do all this,” David said to Jack while Les swung around an abandoned yo-yo he found.

Jack smiled. “It was no problem. I’ll keep an eye out for that cat of yours.”

Les begged Jack to tell him another story, which lasted most of the walk to the apartment. When they finally did arrive, they saw their cat sitting on the fire escape. Les ran up the stairs and sat with the feline.

“That cat will be the death of me,” David remarked, looking up at the boy. Jack looked over at him and smiled.

“So you got a cat and a brother to take care of?” He asked.

David nodded. “My folks are out of the city, so I’m watching them both.”

“That must be a hand full. I don’t know how you do it.”

“Me neither.” David smiled. “Thanks though, seriously. You really didn’t have to come all this way.”

“I wanted to. Les is a good kid,” Jack grinned. “You’re not so bad yourself either.” David felt heat rise to his face. Ducking his head, he fought to keep back his blushing and his smiling.

“Well I didn’t ride the subway with Obama, but thank you,” he teased.

Jack smiled widely. “Hey! It just so happens that before he ran for office he came here to visit the city and I sat right across from him.”

David laughed. “Well, I need to get back to my article.”

“You write for the paper? I’ll have to keep an eye out for your next piece!” Jack said.

David smiled. “See you around Officer Kelly.”

“Catch you later, David Jacobs.”


	2. The Damn Subway

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> David gets to write another article, Jack helps without realizing.

Jack Kelly couldn’t help it. One moment, he was walking the beat, about ready to call it a night, when all of a sudden he heard a kid crying in the alley. He was only working overtime and he probably should’ve clockout, but he couldn’t help but feel bad for the poor kid, who was all alone. So, to comfort the kid he told him all about how he met the president, and suddenly the kid was hooked. He had no idea that the kids older brother would be so attractive! Of course, he walked them home, hoping to get David’s number or something, but all he got was the location of his building.

He woke up the next morning just as people were eating lunch. He went to get the Sunday morning paper, remembering that Davey was a journalist. He scanned the front page, catching sight of a smaller article just below the fold. Murder on the L Train David Jacobs. Jack raised his eyebrows. Davey was good enough for the front page? Jack read the story as he got his “morning” coffee. The story wasn’t anything too interesting—Jack had seen much worse on the job—but he noticed that the writing itself was very well done. Jack wouldn’t claim to know anything about journalism, but he knew a good writer when he saw one.

Tucking the paper under his arm, he walked to a nearby shop to get new paints. After years of painting Santa Fe and drawing political cartoons, he finally had a new inspiration. He could not get David’s eyes out of his mind. He saw them wherever he went, hoping that he would run into him again. He knew it was impossible, real life isn’t a cheesy romantic comedy and New York was far too populated for that, but he couldn’t help but daydream. It wasn’t a coincidence that he took the long way home just to see if David was around. If he was, he wasn’t outside, so Jack kept walking.

When the weekend was over, and Jack was back at work, he lost hope of seeing David again. He shook all thoughts of him from his mind and got ready for work. He was back to day shift and was fairly pleased about it. Night shift was far too chaotic for him. Him and his partner, Spot Conlon, were called to the subway for... a murder? He felt like the universe was playing some sort of trick on him. Of course, there had to be another murder on the subway. This one was far more gruesome, someone being shoved onto the tracks. At least it would be a nice news story. He let Spot take witness statements down while Jack detained the suspect.

He began his whole spiel as he put handcuffs on the man. “You have the right to remain silent...” the man put up quite the fight, and Jack was sure that he would have a few bruises later on. Just as he finished, he noticed a familiar face, furiously hitting down notes.

“David?” Jack asked, still holding the suspect.

David looked up from his notepad, surprised. “Officer Kelly! Think you could give a statement?”

Jack grimaced. “I don’t usually give statements, Jacobs. But since your article on the L train murder was so compelling, maybe I’ll make an exception.”

David blushed, looking down at his shoes. “You read my article?” He asked meekly, looking back up at him.

Jack beamed, “I said I would, didn’t I?” The perp started kicking again, and Jack tightened his grip.

David’s eyes narrowed at the man, but he didn’t comment.

“The victim was pushed off the edge and onto the tracks below. You can guess what happened after that. This guy was seen pushing her, so he has been taken into custody.” Jack explained quickly, David writing down notes as fast as he could. “Now I gotta get this guy down to the station.”

David nodded and put a business card in Jack’s shirt pocket. “Let me know if you remember anything else?” He winked. Jack smiled and they went their separate ways.

He called him later that day. “Hey there, star reporter. You have any more questions?”

In a moment of either bravery or stupidity, David said, “Yeah, what are you doing tonight?”

Jack smiled. “Jacobi’s 7 o’clock sharp. And yes, I am asking you out.”

“You beat me to it,” David flirted.

They talked for hours until they were kicked out at closing time. David invited Jack back to his apartment.

“What about Les?” Jack asked.

David smiled. “He’s visiting the parents.”

“How do you like your eggs?” David laughed and they both leaned in, giddy with excitement.

Jack later found out that Davey likes his eggs sunny-side up. 


End file.
